We jump coasts this week and get our first East Coast event of the season with the 2026 Cognizant Classic at PGA National’s Championship Course. Located in sunny Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, we see 123 players competing for their share of the $9,600,000 purse and 500 FedExCup points. 

We’ve seen plenty of iconic moments at this event, from Rory McIlroy’s win in 2012, where he first earned world number one status, to Keith Mitchell’s first PGA Tour win and Sepp Straka becoming the first Austrian to win on the PGA Tour. We’re in for quite the show this week. As always, when looking at your lineups, make sure to take advantage of our PGA DFS Projections, PGA DFS Ownership, and PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer to get every advantage you can.

 

 

Cognizant Classic 2026: Daily Fantasy Golf Picks & Projections

Previously the Honda Classic, this red-headed step child of the East Coast swing has been revitalized by the loss of Honda as the main sponsor. Attracting more high ranked players of late, this field should provide us with some great play at a great course. 

Even with many big names skipping this week to prepare for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and recent big name withdrawals such as Jacob Bridgeman, Adam Scott, and Ben Griffin, we still get many previous winners in attendance this week. Additionally, Brooks Koepka returns to this event for the first time since 2022. While this field is weaker in comparison, we should still be in for a competitive event.

 

 

PGA National Championship Course: Course Breakdown This Week

PGA National. What a beautiful piece of land. The home of the Cognizant Classic since 2007, we have quite a bit of history on the Championship Course, which will play at just under 7,200 yards at Par 71. With a Florida staple of Bermuda greens, we will see a much different looking approach than we’ve recently seen on the Poa Annua greens we saw so frequently during the West Coast Swing.

The Championship course layout of 4 Par 3’s, 11 Par 4’s, and 3 Par 5’s gives us a fun variety of holes that are almost always protected most heavily by bodies of water. With the Par 3’s ranging between 175 and 225 yards, this will be our primary scoring bucket this week. With the Par 4s, we see a distance between 365 yards and 479 yards, giving us shorter Par 4s than we’ve recently had. 

All three Par 5’s play right around 540-550 yards, which means almost all will be reachable in two shots for the longer hitters in the field. We also see a large number of tight landing areas and heavy use of the dogleg hole format to limit this aspect of the course, so Driving Accuracy takes a much larger leap in importance in this field.

Given the firm and fast conditions, water hazards, and exposure to coastal winds, this course ranks as the hardest on tour when looking at approach shots beyond 150 yards. This aspect is what truly can make this course so difficult, as nearly 70 percent of approach shots fall between 125 and 200 yards, with wedge approach shots nearly completely done away with as they make up barely 10 percent of approaches. Given this information, we’re focusing more heavily on top-tier ball-strikers with solid histories of putting on Bermuda grass.

Unlike many of the courses we saw on the West Coast swing, we do see much less consistency when it comes to high scorers here. In the last 40 years of this event, only Padraig Harrington and Mark Calcavecchia have won here multiple times, making previous winners historically unlikely to repeat as champions (though it is something that could happen this year, given the field). 

Outside of the previously mentioned statistics, some that have shown consistency here put an emphasis on scrambling and bogey avoidance. Given that the winning score of this event often falls right around 10 under par, with 2025 being the lowest winning score (19 under by Joe Highsmith) at PGA National. 

Given the weather and type of course we’re expecting this week, we should also start to consider comparable courses when evaluating the field. Luckily for us, we saw a very similar course already this year, as Waialae Country Club has many of the same tight designed landing areas, as well as the need to avoid water. 

With multiple days of high wind, as well as severe thunderstorms throughout the event, we may be in for a lower scoring number than we’ve seen recently. This puts extra emphasis on Bogey Avoidance and Birdie or Better Gained for me, as even just a few strokes in either direction could make or break a lineup this week.

 

 

Cognizant Classic 2026 Field: Golf DFS

This week at PGA National, we will see 123 players teeing it up. With the current format of signature event, signature event, coastal switch, signature event, The Players, it should be no surprise that this field lacks many of the high-end household names we've seen so frequently. Ryan Gerard is the highest OWGR ranked player in the field at 26th, and he's joined by Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Michael Brennan, Kristoffer Reitan, Sami Valimaki, Rasmus Hojgaard, and Michael Thorbjornsen as the only other top 50 ranked players this week. We do get many previous winners as 2025 Champion Joe Highsmith returns to defend his title, and Austin Eckroat, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell, and Camilo Villegas looking to secure a 2nd win here as well.

 

 

 

This Week’s PGA DFS Optimizer & Lineup Generator

To enhance your daily fantasy golf selections and secure optimal PGA DFS values, it's advisable to utilize our PGA DFS optimizer and lineup generator. This optimizer serves as a valuable resource for daily fantasy golf enthusiasts aiming to develop effective lineups!

It provides projections, updates on player injuries, and a range of analytical insights to facilitate the lineup-building process. Essentially, it functions as a strategic advantage for participants in daily fantasy golf and makes their own PGA DFS picks!

PGA Best Bets & Predictions: 2026 Cognizant Classic (4-8 Overall, +6.20 Units)

  • Seamus Power: Top 20 (+260)
  • Kevin Roy: Missed Cut (+150) 
  • Cognizant Classic One-and-Done Picks: 
    • High End:
      • Shane Lowry
      • Ryan Gerard
    • Low End
      • Rasmus Hojgaard
      • Nicolai Hojgaard

 

 

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: Top Tier

Shane Lowry ($12,000 FanDuel/$9,900 DraftKings)

Shane Lowry continues to be a no-brainer here at PGA National. He's rattled off 4 straight top 12 finishes here, never missed the cut, and is off to a solid start to 2026 with a T8 at Pebble Beach and a T24 at the Genesis. His history on windy courses certainly helps, but he simply understands how and when to attack at this venue.

Ryan Gerard ($11,800 FanDuel/$9,700 DraftKings)

Gerard is not playing to the level he was to start the year, but that's no reason to fade him. He's played here twice, finishing solo 4th and T25th, and statistically he has a strong profile for this venue. His putting could be better, and he could drive it farther, but he's essentially been field average in both of those aspects at this venue historically. His irons have carried him here, and even as he's struggled of late, those have been the saving grace. I have no concerns here

Rasmus Hojgaard ($11,400 FanDuel/$9,500 DraftKings)

While Nicolai might be my preferred Hojgaard brother this week, Rasmus is nothing to shake a stick at. He ranks top 5 in the field in SG:TOT over his last 36 rounds, and has been one of the best putters on Bermuda over that span as well. Additionally, he's one of the longest hitters and best scorers in the field as well. Him and his brother could easily both be top 10 this week.

Nicolai Hojgaard ($11,600 FanDuel/$9,400 DraftKings)

Speaking of Nicolai, he actually ranks much higher than Rasmus this week for me. He leads the field in SG: TOT and SG: BS over his last 36 rounds, is 2nd to only Michael Brennan in driving distance, and ranks in the top half of the field in all major statistical categories I'm looking at this week. He's a smash play for me.

 

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: MID-TIER

Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($10,500 FanDuel/$8,700 DraftKings)

Bezuidenhout shouldn't be a surprise here. He's one of the best putters on the planet most weeks, has incredible scrambling skills, and is the best bogey avoider in the field. While I do worry about his upside in terms of actually winning this event, he feels like a player who is very unlikely to miss the cut, and that's about as good as it gets in this price range this week.

Thorbjorn Olesen ($10,300 FanDuel/$8,500 DraftKings)

Apparently, being Danish is a good sign for this venue this week. Olesen joins the Hojgaard brothers at top 10 players in my model this week. Olesen is the one of only two players in my model this week who have no glaring weakness in terms of stats that matter here. His worst stat is his scrambling, where he still grades out at field average. He's a less known name too, so he may be a sneaky option for diversity in ownership.

 

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: VALUE TIER

Mac Meissner ($9,700 FanDuel/$8,000 DraftKings)

Meissner is the other player who has no glaring weakness here. His par 4 scoring is his weakest point, where he again is roughly field average. He's one of the best bogey avoiders in the field, has strong play over his last 36 both here and at comparable courses, and ties for 20th in terms of ball-striking. He's a great option at this price.

Seamus Power ($9,400 FanDuel/$7,600 DraftKings)

Power continues the trend of fading American born players this week. Power ranks top 10 in the field in SG: TOT over his last 36, Bogey Avoidance, SG:TOT at comparative courses, and has sneakily been a top 15 scorer in the field as well. He's going to be an interesting diversification option in this range where some “bigger” names are present.

Michael Brennan ($8,900 FanDuel/$7,200 DraftKings)

I just can't stop the Brennan love, at least not yet. We don't have much history of him on Bermuda, but he's the longest hitter in the field, and his irons have been a strength this year even as he's struggled. He's still one of the best scorers in the field, and as long as the putter even slightly cooperates this week, he should be just fine.

 

 

PGA DFS Picks This Week (Cheat Sheet)

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